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Valerie Sulzer
during training in 2543 |homeworld= |born= |died= |species=Human |gender=Female |height=6' (184 cm) |weight=161 lb (73 kg) |hair=Black |eyes=Blue |rank=First Lieutenant-alt |branch=*Office of Naval Intelligence (2545—2552) *Project: FREELANCER (2549—2552) |speciality=*Stealth *Interrogation |notable= |affiliation=United Nations Space Command |era=*Human-Covenant War }} First Lieutenant Valerie Sulzer, also known as Agent Montana, is an operative of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence and was a member of the FREELANCER project during its active phase from 2549 to 2552. She is highly skilled as a stealth operative and an interrogator and holds a reputation for getting things done efficiently in both fields. Despite her greatly troubled childhood and her bittersweet relationship with one Arthur Onegin, also another member of FREELANCER, Valerie rarely allows her own background to slow her down and is known as one of the most cryptic Freelancers in the program. After the project was overturned by Agents Texas and Carolina, Valerie's rank and position as an ONI officer was reinstated. Although she returned to duty under ONI's command in 2552, her true loyalties lie with the members of Project FREELANCER. Early Life Childhood Valerie was born as the only child of Sibel Järvinen and Isak Sulzer in Aristonymus, Arcadia. She was raised with very high expectations from both parents, who took note of her exceedingly perceptive nature from a young age and were determined to refine it into a sharp intellect. Although her family was of middle class, Sibel and Isak spared no expense in sending her to the most reputable school institutes that they could find. Shooting at Nicholas C. Ponder Elementary Valerie's first aspirations for her future came in 2530 when her school, Elementary, was captured by . Unbeknownst to her, the terrorists' target was her first-grade teacher, Nathaniel Cortez, a retired Marine and a former member of the highly secretive . Although Cortez's affiliation with the UNSC was a distant past to him, he was wanted by one General , who had learned of ORION's existence and required one of its candidates for research on its workings. Seeing Cortez as the easiest to detain on a colony already infested with Insurrectionist activity, Graves ordered his capture regardless of the collateral damage involved. The UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence became aware of the risks of Cortez's potential capture, and sent in a team of operatives to eliminate the Insurrectionists. However, they saw the safety of the school's civilians as as secondary priority. Despite the operative team initially taking out eight hostiles with sniper fire and gaining the advantage, the remaining insurgents were quick to move themselves into less vulnerable locations in Ponder Elementary and set up a deadly hostage situation while the operatives were forced to make their way into the building themselves. The Insurrectionists, unable to find Cortez and realizing that they were being boxed in, resorted to desperate measures and threatened to execute every teacher and student they came across if he didn't give himself up. But the ONI team refused to halt their advance into the school, intent on finding Cortez first. He quickly realized that ONI was willing to sacrifice any number of lives in order to prevent compromising ORION, and decided to take action himself. Valerie, who was being escorted to her next class with her classmates at the time of the incident, was met by two armed Insurrectionists in a corridor. The encounter was swift and ruthless; thirteen of her classmates were gunned down in cold blood, along with the teacher who pleaded with the insurgents to spare the children. Valerie took a bullet in the forearm that shattered her ulna, but managed to dodge into a bathroom, unnoticed in the commotion as the others scattered and ran amok outside. Cortez, having heard the gunfire, arrived shortly afterwards; he was unable to save any of the victims, but did acquire one of the Insurrectionists' weapons and killed them both. Hearing Valerie's barely suppressed cries of pain in the bathroom, he found her and took her to the infirmary. He treated the bullet wound and hid her in the storage containers but left shortly afterwards, asking her to stay where she was. In the aftermath of the shooting, Valerie learned that the entire Insurrectionist team had been eliminated, with nearly a third of them by Cortez's hand. But a total of fifty-eight children had been killed along with twenty-two teachers. Among them was Cortez, who had reportedly placed himself between a trio of Insurrectionists and a group of third-graders in a classroom where they were hiding. In a deadly exchange-fire, he inflicted enough injury on the gunmen to give the children time to run to safety, but took six bullets to the chest in the process. Valerie was greatly distressed upon hearing the news, but Sibel and Isak were greatly unsettled by her lack of trauma in response to the bloody incident. Unbeknownst to them, their daughter was already beginning to forge herself into the merciless, unflinching soldier that she would become one day. Relocation to Xavier After Arcadia was found by in early 2531 and abandoned, Valerie and her parents were immigrated to the colony of Xavier in the Rho Persei system. After the horrifying shooting at Ponder Elementary just months prior, and many of her friends killed in the incident, Valerie was only too glad to leave Arcadia behind. She continued her education on Xavier in the city of Noel, although her parents kept her in private schools despite the fact that Xavier was not Insurrectionist-ridden like Arcadia was. Throughout her childhood, she was either taught or sent to learn numerous languages; in addition to her native language, German, she learned English, Latin, Hungarian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian. As Valerie became older, Sibel and Isak began to wonder whether she was afflicted with a psychological disorder. Although she had never shown signs of being troublesome in school or at home, one particular incident she was involved with in 2539 made the news on Xavier. On her way walking home one day after school, she was spotted by a stranger who took an interest in the 15-year old girl. She soon became aware that she was being followed, but rather than attracting the attention of Noel's Superintendent AI to seek help, she feigned ignorance and led the stalker out of the city and to an isolated lakeside. Taking his opportunity, the man tried to force himself upon Valerie. But the attempt failed when she blinded him by stabbing him in both eyes with a sharp rock and flung him into the lake. As the terrified would-be rapist tried to pull himself out of the lake and she contemplated what to do with him, an off-duty police officer who had been taking a walk not far off heard the commotion and arrived at the scene, taking them both into custody. Although Valerie was a minor and could not be charged for attacking the stranger, the cold efficiency of the act had prompted the police to question her. She told them with the utmost sincerity that she was just taking a walk and had no idea she was being stalked. After Noel's Superintendent found and provided satellite footage of the man trying to rape her before she assaulted him, she was cleared of repercussions. She had shown no sign of fright after the incident, but her parents were extremely perturbed by her demeanour. A year later, they decided to send her to Noel's military academy. In 2543, Valerie completed basic training and was awarded the Basic Training Honour Graduate Ribbon. Not long after, she was accepted into and was sent away from home for her studies. It was there that she met her future one-time fiancé, Arthur Onegin, who was one of the few students quick-minded enough to be in some of the more difficult classes that she attended. Working with Arthur Onegin The two completed their OCS studies four months later and were both issued commissioned officer ranks, with Valerie joining the Marine Corps and Arthur joining the Navy. They were both placed into work with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and under recommendation from their superior officer at OCS, placed together in most of their assignments. Due to Arthur's eligibility for accelerated promotion, he was given the rank of full Lieutenant later in the year and was tasked with a more tactical role than Valerie. Upon meeting Arthur, Sibel and Isak were surprised and relieved to see that Valerie seemed to be in a more complacent state of mind in his presence. Being previously concerned that she had expressed no interest in any sort of relationship interest even late into her adolescence, they became very fond of the humourous, easy-going young man who their daughter often brought with her to visit them. When Valerie told them that she was dating him a year later, they were quite pleased. But what she had never told them was that Arthur also had his own troubled past. He had told her about his shoddy upbringing with his mother and his younger brother, Simon, and his run-in with his father that had separated him from Simon. Taken with a rare sympathy, Valerie swore to stick close to Arthur and help him find his brother. But neither allowed the vulnerability show to anyone as they continued their work with ONI. Valerie in particular was an expert in detaching herself from almost all emotion in her military career. She quickly discovered that she had a knack for stealth, and utilized her abilities well in the field. Bombing on Skopje Destruction of Omelas Project Freelancer First Freelancer Operations Raids on UNSC Resources The Revolution Return to the UNSC Project FREELANCER Cleanup Battle of Reach Battle of Earth Traits Personality Skills and Abilities Relationship With Arthur Onegin Relationship With Theodore Hawkins